Chess Star Would Play Naked to Beat Anal Bead Cheating Allegations

For the past few weeks, the controversial chess star has been at the center of a massive cheating scandal after beating world chess champion Magnus Carlsen at the 2022 Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis, Mo. However, the big upset almost immediately raised suspicions, with Carlsen announcing his withdrawal from the tournament in a cryptic tweet that many believed alluded to Niemann cheating during their game. And from there, the internet did what it does best by coming up with an bizarre conspiracy theory about the 19-year-old player using vibrating anal beads to feed himself moves during over-the-board games.

In the wake of all this, the cheating allegations have continued to gain traction, fueled by a combination of his exponential increase in "skill," Carlsen naming him in a second statement and an admission to cheating during online games as a teenager. Not only that, but Niemann's account has since been removed from Chess.com, which also conducted a subsequent investigation that found he "likely cheated" in more than 100 online games using their platform.

Even so, Niemann is currently competing in the US Chess Championships, where he's been under intense scrutiny for obvious reasons. And according to TMZ, this has resulted in the grandmaster being subject to extra thorough security checks, with guards reportedly taking "a good long look at Hans' butt with a metal detector outside the Saint Louis Chess Club."

On his end, Niemann has continued to refute the allegations and specifically denied using anal beads — or any similar sort of sex toy — to cheat. In fact, he's only doubled down on his innocence since then, saying that he was "not going to back down" after winning the opening day of the US Championships earlier this week.

"I'm going to play my best chess here regardless of the pressure that I'm under," he continued, adding that he would even be willing to compete in an over-the-board game — completely naked.

Read TMZ's original report here.

Photo via Shutterstock / Monster Ztudio